Comment Wall

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There are a lot of people who are unwilling to drive to Detroit to see the cars let alone buy a car that they think needs to be taken there for service.

I am certain that the organizers wouldn't get in the way fo selling cars here (although they might not want to encourage it). Ideally a relationship with a local business would solve that (anything from Sears or Walmart at a national level) to coordinating with a retailer and use of their property (they get customers drawn to their property and smart gets a place to operate from).

I would favor a national and long term relationship because then people would know where the local point of contact is and reps could come out every other month or so to build the customer base.

I was once one of the top sellers for computers at a national reailt chain (similar to the old Circuit City). It usually took me three discussions with a customer to sell a computer. I found that it was the personal relationship that really made me stand out. They came to trust me through my approach and they believed they could count on me in the future if they had questions.

Or,not so much a corp. presence(I don't know if the drive orginizers would approve of a corp. trying sell cars) but,like you said, a bunch of smarts all together. We drew a crowd every time we stopped so imagine if 5-10 smarts all pulled into a parking lot and parked 2-4 to a spot like we did. smart could then have handed out info,like I did, and give rides etc. and go to ALL the various lots that people were parked in.
Working thru Jiffy Lube or other service centers is a great idea. How many sales do they lose here in GR and other places because people don't want to drive 150+ miles for an oil change?

I'll bet if Bloomfield had a presence there they could easily have sold several cars. Ideally they would bring out some cars to show; have a car for demo rides; and have a few cars on hand to sell on the spot. I know we could supplement staff with owners to talk to people. The one question that puts people off is about local servicing. Even though people can use any local accredited shop, it would be far more appealing to have a relationship with a local shop or chain so you can say, "your local Jiffy Lube is all set up to service the cars locally".

It seems that it would be easy and affordable to make this happen and it would generate sales as well. Smart USA could go through the Metro Cruise office or work with a local business that would benefit (such as the promotion with Sonic Drive-In).

There is no doubt that our cars were very popular at the event. However just like a single ant is not all that impressive, having a formation of them is. I love when we have a trail of smarts snaking its way through the streets - and we know how the crowds love it, too.

My sister and I had a blast! Thanks to evryone that came and I'll be back next year!
BTW, Jill and crew- Why didn't anyone show up?
300,000 chances to show off the car with the drive program and it was missed again.
( I just did the survey and I'm still "grumpy")